A Taste of Mint
by The Purple Wox
Summary: Mikan tries to apologize, but in her eyes she just makes everything worse. Natsume in turn shows her that everything is fine, and Mikan will never remember mint candies the same way again. NxM fanfic. First attempt. Be Kind.


_A Taste of Mint_

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice. Do not sue. Thank you.

The sun was in its place above the horizon, golden warm and enfolding the entire academy in gently rays. Birds were singing, and Alice Academy students were taking a well-deserved day off.

Having slept in until the sun was well lodged in the almost painfully blue sky, devoid of all clouds, Narumi was just then pushing back wavy blond hair while slowly blinking pale lids over drowsy purple irises. Gazing outside he murmured, "Such a peaceful day." He was well aware that at any moment, something could, and probably would, prove him drastically wrong.

Because of course, to leave Alice Academy with all its interesting groups, perhaps one more so than the others, in a state of peaceful equilibrium is a fairly rare chance. Optimistically, that chance would be something like one in a million. Realistically, however, we know the chances are just slightly away from _no freakin' chance in hell._

The peace was cracking, spiraling downwards, breaking, slipping, preparing to be dragged through the smothering doom that is Houston on a summers day, only to stampeded by the wildebeests that (unfortunately) killed Mufasa and then stuck in a small hole in the middle of Antarctica, to be left for a few years and then defrosted to repeat the entire process again. Or, in the words that most will understand, Natsume and Mikan were fighting.

Mikan could feel her cheeks flush hotly, aware that they were a burning red to match the flames that she felt. She narrowed her eyes, fists clenched tightly at her sides.

"What gives you the right to be such a _jerk_ all the time!" Mikan finally lost it and snapped at Natsume, chin jutting out in silent challenge. She had had enough of his condescending glances and rude remarks.

Natsume just leaned against his tree, matching her gaze with a slow twinkle in his eye. The edge of his lips curled up in his patented smirk, while Mikan felt her blood grow even warmer.

"What's it to you, Polka Dots?" Natsume's drawling voice questioned Mikan as she came back from her dreams of hitting Natsume over the head. With one of Hotaru's larger, heavier inventions. Hard. Flashes of amusement now shown in his eyes and Mikan smothered a growl of exasperation.

"And there's that nickname, again! Why will you never stop, you still mock me for things that are really, entirely your fault, and you're so mean to everyone! You always brush off people like they don't mean anything, and –argh- it just make me so mad! I doubt even the most socially inept idiot has better social skills than you, you Baka Natsume!"

Natsume rolled his eyes for a bit, then glanced back to meet Mikan's gaze.

"You wanna know why I brush those people off?" He scoffed. "I just don't care, I see no point in forming little dalliances with these people when they don't really matter."

"Yeah, and you know what, Natsume? That's your problem, you don't care. You probably don't care about anything and you're probably a horrible friend. I don 't know why Ruka-pyon puts up with you!" Mikan was almost screaming by now. She could feel almost-tears forming in the back of her eyes, bitter at the thought that he wouldn't confide in anyone, wouldn't _trust_ in anyone. Wouldn't trust in her.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Natsume's face shuttered. "You don't know, so butt out." He stared coldly at her for a moment, before shifting himself off the tree and walking away. _Damn girl, of course I care about her._

Mikan thought she realized her mistake; he cared so deeply for Ruka, no one should mistake the strength of that bond. No one should question his trust or friendship with Ruka, it was unheard of. Mikan started off after him, wanting to apologize, but after a backwards glance from his eyes, she stopped.

Mikan dropped to the ground, hugging her knees. "What am I gonna do _now_?"

The brown-eyed, pigtailed girl wandered around, thinking of a suitable apology to fix the fight that she and Natsume had. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a delicately boned girl with violet eyes, and a short head of dark hair.

"HOTARU!!!!!!", Mikan ran towards the girl with tears streaming from her eyes, only to be repelled with three shots from a gun that suddenly appeared in Hotaru's hand. "Baka, baka, baka!"

"Hotaru, how could you be so mean!" Mikan complained as she inched closer to Hotaru on her knees. The other girl just looked at Mikan with a questioning eyebrow quirked.

Mikan sighed, "Hotaru, I was pretty mean to Natsume, and I'm not sure how to apologize." She sat down and dropped her head dejectedly, her eyes a duller caramel than her usual brightness.

"Hotaru, what should I do???" Mikan questioned, looking up to Hotaru with shining eyes, as if Hotaru was her last chance of survival in a dying world.

Hotaru shrugged, "It's Hyuuga's birthday tomorrow, just get him a nice present accompanied by an apology. I'm sure you haven't screwed up so badly that he wouldn't forgive you."

At this, Mikan began to hit her head against a nearby tree, "Stupid Mikan, Stupid Mikan, STUPID me! I can't believe I was so mean right before his birthday!" Her head stopped banging against the tree. "But… If I apologize and get him a really good present, it will be okay. Right?"

Mikan sprang up, caramel eyes shining, hope renewed. _But what kind of present would he like?_ The girl debated over what to get him. _He already has enough of those stupid manga books; they're probably rotting his brain anyway. Um… I'll get him sweets! And I'll make them myself, that way he can see the effort I put into his gift, and it's more personal! _ And with this new course of action, she skipped towards the kitchen.

The kitchen was a disaster. Mikan had decided on a favorite of hers, mint candy, and then proceeded to look up the recipe. This, Mikan did successfully. She then retrieved all the ingredients from different parts of the kitchen, this, she also succeeded in.

Then, Mikan tried to make the candies. She melted, she mixed, she ground, she poured, she molded, and she tried very, very hard. Unfortunately, she did not succeed in making her perfect mint candies. Therefore, she tried again. And again. And again.

After many hours of hard work, she rubbed her pale brow with the back of a hand and sighed contentedly. Before her were a dozen pale mint green candies. _They look so yummy! I almost just want to try one, because of all the hard work… but no! They're Natsume's! _She carefully wrapped her candies in a blue bag, and tied the birthday present off with a silver tie. She looked outside and saw the moon high in the sky, with all the stars twinkling at her.

The sunlight disturbed Mikan's sleep so she rolled over, grumbling. _Hmmm… wanna sleep…. Have to remember to give jerk-face his present… today.. wait. Today? Now? _Her eyes flew open. Mikan rubbed her hands furiously against her eyes, removing all evidence that she just woke up.

She ran through her room, grabbing clothes, dressing while she grabbed breakfast and tossing on shoes as she ran out the door.

_I strangely feel that something is.. missing. _Mikan stopped. She held each hand out and looked at them. She patted her pockets carefully. Nothing. "I forgot the present!" she notified the world before running back up and retrieving her hard work.

Mikan headed towards the sakura tree where Natsume spent his free time. As she approached, she saw that Sumire was presenting her present for Natsume. Mikan felt a slight stab of.. jealousy? But no, that didn't make sense, for why would she feel jealous? Shrugging off the puzzling emotion, she headed towards them.

When she came up, Mikan was met with stares from Sumire and Natsume. Sumire had an expression of mild annoyance, and Natsume lifted an eyebrow in question.

Mikan offered her gift outstretched in two hands. Bowing her head, she mumbled, "I want to apologize for what I said yesterday."

She just stood there for a wile with the two of them staring at her. She sighed in exasperation and dumped the present in Natsume's lap. "I'm sorry okay? Happy Birthday" He looked at her for a moment longer and opened the package.

"What are these?" he asked warily.

"They're mint candies?" Mikan smiled tentatively.

Sumire looked at Mikan scornfully. "The only thing Natsume won't eat for sweets is mint." She rolled her eyes and continued, "If you're going to get a gift, do it right, geez."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, but these are really good, maybe if you just try one. You may even really like i-". Mikan rushed apology and encouragement were interrupted by the arrival of a shadow. She turned her head slowly. Natsume's face took on a defiant look. The shadow smiled, Persona had arrived.

"How's my kuro-neko doing?" Persona purred mockingly.

"What are you doing?" Natsume demanded.

"I just came to wish you a Happy Birthday," Persona leaned down by Natsume and said in a voice that Mikan strained to hear, "Don't forget your place, kuro-neko."

Abruptly, he straightened and brushed past her, smelling of mint.

Mikan gaped at Natsume with stricken eyes. "That's why you don't like mint!" She realized that she had brought a token of the man that Natsume hated the most, and given it to him as a birthday present. Her eyes filled with tears at her stupidity and guilt, "I'm so sorry!" and then, she fled.

Mikan sat, huddled by a wall. _He probably doesn't want to have to look at me. I insulted him, and then to apologize, I gave him something that he associates with a horrible man! _Mikan closed her eyes and tears continued to trace pathways down her cheeks. She felt a warm presence sit next to her.

"Want some?" Natsume's smooth voice reached her ears and she looked up to see his red eyes watching her. Mikan wordlessly shook her head before biting out, "I'm sorry."

Seeing her gaze trained on him, Natsume slowly took out a mint candy and popped it into his mouth. Mikan's mouth dropped open. He chuckled and nudged her mouth closed with his hand. He settled beside her and looked at the sun setting in the sky.

"It's not really so bad, it's just I've spent so much time associating mint with bad memories." Natsume glanced over at her, eyes twinkling as the setting sun threw light over his face. "But I know something I could try to get over that…" His breath was minty against Mikan's face. She could feel her stomach fluttering at his closeness.

His voice was doing strange things to her, confusion replaced sorrow.

"Huh?" she replied intelligently.

"Well, if you want me to like these mint candies, you're going to have to help me create some good memories." Natsume smirked at her. He leaned closer. "Got it, Polka Dots?"

Mikan knew her cheeks were flaming red and she was about to indignantly call him a pervert, when his lips pressed over hers, and she lost her train of thought.

She could feel his warm hands pressed against her face, wiping the salty tracks her tears left. She could his soft, warm lips against hers, and she felt like sighing contentedly. And then she could taste his kiss. It was better than the best mint candy she had ever tried, his kiss. It was the best, she decided, this kiss that tasted of mint.

(Author's Note): Hello everyone! This is my first fanfiction ever, so be kind please! I have to admit I'm a bit dissatisfied with my story, but I wanted to get feedback before I redo it (if I have the energy or inclination to redo it). I enjoy constructive criticism, but please no flames. They make me sad. T.T

Review Please!!!!!!


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